indoor location positioning, indoor e-911, indoor location tracking

1. Precision Indoor Personnel Location and Tracking
for Emergency Responders Workshop
Overview of Need and Current
Status of LPS for Emergency
Response
Krzysztof Kolodziej
Author & Consultant
IndoorLBS.com
kkolodziej@indoorlbs.com
Aug 7, 2006

2. About the Book – Summary
• A 4 year collaboration with academia, research, and industry
– E.g., MIT Cricket, Microsoft Research, Intel Place Lab, Rosum, etc
• Chapter 4: Sensor Systems for Indoor Position Computation
– Complimentary and alternative positioning technologies to GPS
– Sensors types: Ultrasound, Ultrawideband, TV, IR, Bluetooth, 802.11 (Wi-Fi),
RFID, ZigBee, Video, Inertial, Electromagnetic, Optical
– Indoor signal propagation characteristics, multipath, algorithms
– Ad-hoc-based vs infrastructure-based systems
• Chapter 5: Indoor Location Awareness and Navigation
– Indoor map and sensors data
– 2D vs 3D
– Spatial reference systems (absolute | relative)
– Path planning algorithms
– Geocoding
• Chapter 8: Service Deployment
– Using a Wi-Fi network (Site survey, positioning models,
radio map training, system configuration)

3. About the Book – Classification
of LPS

4. About the Book -- Applications and
Accuracy Requirements
Indoor positioning required

5. About the Book -- Applications and
Accuracy Requirements
Indoor positioning required

6. The Need for LPS – Indoors
• 2 million emergency responders in the US
– Mission: save lives, while staying alive themselves.
• Emerging technologies are critical for meeting the USFA’s goal:
reduce firefighter fatalities by 25% in the next five years.
• Existing technology allows first responders to monitor their own
safety
– E.g., Personal Alert Safety System (PASS) and Heads-Up-Display
(HUD) units, and to send and receive messages from incident
command.
• However, reoccurring failures and user error have
led to firefighter fatalities and injuries:
– Fatalities: 117 in 2004 (USFA)
– Fireground – 37,976 injuries
• Total injuries: 80,800 in 2004 (NFPA)

7. Current versus Need
Current:

8. Current versus Need
Need:

9. DHS Advanced 3D Locator System
• A lack of status, condition, location, task, resource,
threat, and exit accessibility information, or inability to
convey this information among emergency responders,
strike teams, and incident command can result in civilian
and responder casualties.
– Firefighting is making a lot of decisions on little information.
• Users:
– Federal, State, Local and Tribal incident responders and
managers
– DHS / Emergency Preparedness / Federal Emergency
Management Agency (FEMA)
– All lead and supporting Federal agencies of the National
Response Plan
– Law Enforcement agencies
– Fire Departments

10. DHS Advanced 3D Locator System
Some of the required performance measures:
1. Transmit information inside and outside to on-site and
off-site personnel
a. No matter the type of building or structural state
b. Within 30-100m for tactical (e.g., incident command)
2. Self-initializing, self-calibrating, self-adjusting and self-
diagnostic.
3. Base station software must have:
a. 3-6m positioning accuracy
b. Advanced scene visualization
i. 3D location capabilities
ii. Wire-frame like view of the building structure with the position of
each responder indicated
iii. identify, group, and categorize responders as desired
4. GIS (optional)

11. The Need for LPS – Indoors
(Civilians)
• Plus, 4,000 civilian fatalities! (USFA)
• 184 million U.S. wireless subscribers (Jupiter Research,
2005 projection)
• > 30% of 911 calls in the US originate from mobile
phones--a number expected to soon outpace 911 wire-
line calls (NENA)
• 62% of all calls in the US are made from cell phones
(CTIA)
• People spend most of their time indoors

12. Network Reliability and
Interoperability (NRIC)
• FCC has called upon NRIC to present recommendations to clarify
issues surrounding wireless location accuracy requirements.
• Stakeholders: wireless industry, the Public Safety community, E911
industry
• Efforts within the Emergency Services Interconnection Forum
(ESIF), are critical to the implementation of NRIC’s
recommendations.
• Indoor versus Outdoor Location Testing Recommendation:
– All parties agreed to 5% of test calls must be conducted from indoor
locations for compliance and maintenance testing.
• Testing location accuracy inside permanent structures.
• The 5% value was chosen because …. “no data currently exists that
defines the actual number of wireless 9-1-1 calls made from indoors
and because of practical limitations of location technologies
currently deployed.”
• The subcommittee also recommends that public safety attempt to
track the amount of wireless 911 calls that are made from indoor
versus outdoor locations.

13. In-Building Wireless Alliance
(IBWA)
An advocacy for:
– Commercial Real Estate
– Wireless
– Public safety uses of in-building wireless solutions
• Indoor location services for public safety and asset tracking
• DHS is concerned about buildings
• The FCC Commissioner was educated 2yrs ago about the
ability to do 3D positioning indoors

14. Precision Indoor Personnel Location and Tracking
for Emergency Responders Workshop
Current Status of LPS for
Emergency Response
-- Survey --

15. Survey
Rescue | Tactical
Deployment Range
Position Calculation
Position Method
Signal Used
Transmitter
Receiver
Accuracy (outdoor
and indoor)
Cost

16. Precision Indoor Personnel Location and Tracking
for Emergency Responders Workshop
Survey results will be posted
online at indoorLBS.com

17. Ending Remarks
Get involved in OGC’s OWS-4 Testbed:
CAD / GIS / BIM group Sensor Web group
OpenLS group

18. Thank You
Krzysztof Kolodziej
IndoorLBS.com
kkolodziej@indoorlbs.com